Apparatus for stripping thin rubber articles from a form



Nov. 7, 1961 J. R. GAMMETER 3,007,195

APPARATUS FOR STRIPPING THIN RUBBER ARTICLES FROM A FORM 3 Sheets-Sheet1 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1951 INVENTOR. John R. Gem m e+er WWW ATTORNEYNov. 7, 1961 J. R. GAMMETER 3,007,195

APPARATUS FOR STRIPPING THIN RUBBER ARTICLES FROM A FORM Original FiledJan. 24, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNE) Nov. 7, 1961 J. R. GAMMETER 7,

APPARATUS FOR STRIPPING THIN RUBBER ARTICLES FROM A FORM Original FiledJan. 24, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet :5

FIG. 3

52A 3 INVENTOR. g9 jo 9. G ammtm ATTORNEY United States Bfidll PatentedNov. 196i 3,607,195 APEARATUS FUR TREPPNG THIN ARTKCLES ERQM A Filiil /iJohn lit, Gammeter, Akron, @hio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to MaryElana Thomas Original application Jan. 24, 1951, Sort. N a 2ll7,547, now

Patent No. 2,714,451, dated Aug. 2, H55. Divided and this applicationApr. 19, 1955, Ser. No. i2,486

2 Claims. (Cl. 18-2) This invention relates to apparatus for sortingarticles, and in particular to apparatus for sorting thin, hollow rubberarticles, such as prophylactics, after the same have been tested fordefects.

This is a divisional application carved from application Serial No.207,547, filed on January 24, 1951, and which issued into Patent No.2,714,451 on August 2, 1955.

In Gammcter Patent No. 2,221,323, there is disclosed a machine by whichdipped rubber articles received on moving forms of electro-conductivematerial are electrically tested for imperviousness, by rolling theforms against a flexible, elcctro-condu'ctive element, whereby defectsin the articles are electrically manifested by passage of an electricalcurrent from the flexible element through perforations or thin spots inthe goods, to the forms. In Gammeter Patent No. 2,371,818 there is showna satisfactory device for removing the articles from the forms after thesame have been tested on such an electrical tester, but thisarticle-removing device removed all good articles remaining on formsupon passing over the device, and required provision of separate meansfor removing pervious or otherwise imperfect articles from the forms, asmanifested by the electrical tester. The first-named Gammeter patentteaches the use of air-blowing the imperfect articles fro-m the forms,but this required provision of air passages in the forms, opening at theends of the same, with a resultant reduction in the efficiency of theelectrical testing procedure.

One object of the present invention is to provide an improved unitarydevice for sorting articles of the char acter described into separateclassifications as the same are received by the device from a givenpoint, thereby obviating the necessity for having separate articletakeoff units for articles of different classifications.

Another object of the invention is to provide in testing apparatus ofthe character described, improved article take-off means which does notreduce the efficiency of the testing operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved article takeoffmeans of the character described which will effectively roll thin,hollow rubber articles: of the character described on testing formsthereof and which will eject the articles from the forms withoutunrolling the same.

These and other objects of the invention will be manifest from thefollowing brief description and the accompanyin g drawings.

Of the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of an electrical testingmachine, illustrating units thereof for testing, ejecting, and sortingthin rubber articles.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross section, on an enlarged scale, takensubstantially on the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a schematic wiring diagram, illustrating electrical controlmeans for the testing machine.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical crosssection, similar to FIG- URE 2, illustratinga modification of the invention.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, the numeralsIll, designate a plurality of elongated metal forms supported onmountings 11, 11 peripherally spaced on an annular conveyor or plate 12,the forms being rotatable about longitudinal axes thereof and extendingfreely radially inwardly of the conveyor. The conveyor is mounted to berotatable in a horizontal plane about a fixed circular table 13, inclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 1, to convey the forms 10 insuccession through an electrical testing unit T which manifests defects,such as perforations or thin spots in dipped rubber articles on theforms, and to convey the forms past an article-ejecting unit E incooperating relationship to a funnel or receptacle 14- of anarticle-sorting unit S, mounted on table 13. A suitable power drivenmechanism, such as is shown in said prior Patent No. 2,221,323, isprovided for rotating the conveyor. The forms it) are cylindrical androunded at the free ends of the same to receive thereon correspondinglyshaped thin rubber prophylactics, in distended unwrinkled condition.

For electrically testing the articles A, the forms 10 containing thesame are moved in succession, as described, under a draped flexible,electro-conductive element 15, such as fine wire mesh fabric of the typeused for ladies handbags, each form while so engaging the element beingrotated against the same by engagement of a pinion 10a thereon with anarcuate toothed rack 13a on the fixed table 13. The mesh element 15 andthe respective forms are suitably connected in an electrical circuit(see FIG- URE 3) providing a source of high potential current (say 1200volts), the circuit being normally open by presence of a dielectric thinrubber article interposed between its form and the mesh element.Presence of a pin hole or perforation, or a thin spot in an article,however, is manifested by closing of the electrical circuit through thesame to operate suitable electrical control means, such as is shown inFIGURE 3, including an electromagnet 42 of the articlesorting unit S,and a series of cam-operated switches, to be described in further detaillater.

The article-ejecting unit E may be of a suitable type, such as is shownin said Patent No. 2,371,818. Accordingly, a fabric reinforced rubberV-belt 2b is extended between spaced pulleys 21 and 22 rotatably mountedon a bracket 23 to have an elongated, substantially straight upper reachof the belt positioned in the arcuate path of the lower portions of theforms 10, the belt being driven to move said upper reach thereofinwardly and thereby engage the articles lengthwise to strip the samefrom the respective forms. When the articles A are provided withintegral reinforcing bead rings 24, the belt may be driven at desiredlinear speed with relation to the speed of the conveyor to engage therings 24 and roll the articles upon themselves toward the free innerends of the forms, and finally to eject the rolled article into theoutwardly presented open mouth 25 of funnel l4. Efiicien-t removal ofthe articles from the forms is assured by arrangement of the upper reachZita of belt 29 to be at a slight angle to the longitudinal axes of theforms in the article-ejecting positions (see FIGURES 1 and 2) thereof.

The belt 20 may be driven as described, by a belt 26 between a pulley27, keyed on the same shaft as pulley 21, and a pulley 28 on the outputshaft 29 of a motor 30, which for the present purposes may becontinuously running. Bracket 23 is shown suitably constructed foradjusting the position of the upper reach of belt 20 for correctengagement with the forms.

As all articles A will be stripped from the respective forms 11 passingover the V-belt 2G, and projected into the funnel 14 of unit S, thelatter is provided with improved means for separating the good articlesfrom imperfect articles as manifested by the tester T, Accordingly, thefunnel, rearwardly of the mouth 25 thereof, may be rectangular incross-section and divided into two separate front and rear channels orcompartments 32 and 33, as by a wall 34, for reception of bad and goodarticles, respectively, the inlet ends of the respective compartmentsbeing below or closely adjacent the lower edge of the mouth of thefunnel, and the lower or outlet ends of the compartments terminatingdivergently to open into separate portable containers resting on thefloor and adapted to contain predetermined quantities of the separatedarticles (see FIGURE 4).

For separating the ejected articles into the respective compartments 32or 33, a rectangular deflector plate or closure member 35 is hinged atthe top of the dividing wall 34, to be swingable from a position (shownin full lines in FIGURE 2), in which it closes otf the forwardcompartment, the plate in the forward position being supported at adownward and inward inclination, with the forward or free edge thereofagainst the lower edge portion of the mouth 25 of the funnel, to deflectthe good articles into the rear compartment, and in a rear positionbeing supported against the rear wall of the funnel for deflecting thebad articles into the forward compartment. For swinging the deflectorplate between these two positions, an outward extension 36 of a pivotalshaft 37 thereof has fixed thereon an arm 38, to which is pivoted anextension 39 of a movable armature 45) of a solenoid or electromagnet42, mounted on the underside of fixed table 13. Deflector plate 35 maybe of non-static material, such as redwood, Micarta phenolic resin or itmay be covered with such non-static material, to obviate electrostaticattraction of the rubber articles A thereto which might interiere withefficient movement of the articles within the funnel.

Operation of the improved sorting apparatus for testing thin rubberarticles, such as prophylactics A applied to the metal forms 1&7 inknown manner, will be described specifically by reference to the wiringdiagram of FIG- URE 3, in conjunction with the drawings generally.

In normal operation of the testing machine, a pair of conventionalelectronic relays R and R connected in the Wiring circuit shown inFIGURE 3, have contacts 45 and 47, respectively, thereof in opencondition. The contacts 45 and 47 remain open as long as good articlesare passing under the net of the electrical testing unit T (see FIGURES1 and 3). These relays, therefore, will not be effective to operate theelectromagnet 42 of sorting unit S (see FIGURES 2 and 3). There will be110 volts connected to a primary side 44 of a transformer B at alltimes, through lines L and L as indicated by a neon lamp N. There willalso be current supplied to various parts of the wiring circuit, butsuch current is normally insufficient to energize coils in the relays Rand R or a bad goods flasher signal (FIGURE 3). Should a form 1%)containing a bad article A pass under the net 15. however, the net isgrounded through the bad spot to the form and through a secondary side43 of the transformer B, the voltage on said primary side 44 beingpreset according to the type or thickness of an article A being tested(as an example to produce a surge of 750 volts A.C. for each .001 inchof thickness of the article).

Closing of the secondary side 43 of the transformer in this manner setsoff the primary side 44 thereof (110 volt side), which is variable inaccordance with the thickness of the articles, thereby creating atemporary surge of current which, through lines L and L momentarilylights up a signal lamp W acting as a resistance and indicates that abad article has passed from the testing unit, and energizes the coil ofthe first relay or activating means R at the same time, through lines Land L thereby magnetically locking the contact 45 in closed position tothe left (FIGURE 3). As the article form A under consideration leavesthe net 15 and another form is about to move under the same it becomesnecessary to open the contact 45 of first relay R for a subsequentindependent test of the article on another form A. Accordingly, a cam 46prelocated on the conveyor 12 (see FIGURE 2) to be opposite to the formof the tested article (there being one such cam for each form), en-

gages and closes a normally open micro-switch M which is the first of aseries of four micro-switches mounted on the fixed table 13, inpredetermined circumferentially spaced relation (see FIGURE 1), theupper reach 20a of the belt 20 of the ejecting unit E beingsubstantially aligned with the eltective cam-engaging point of thethird, normally open, micro-switch M of the series (see FIGURE 1. Thus,closing the first, normally open, micro'switch M of the series, throughlines L and L energizes the coil of a second relay or holding means R inthe compound circuit, thereby magnetically looking a contact 47 thereofin closed position to the left (FIG- URE 3), which holds a source ofcurrent through contact 47 in readiness for subsequent ejecting andsorting operations independently of a testing operation on the nextsucceeding form passing through the testing unit T. Immediately beforethe tested from moves into contact with the moving belt 26 of theejecting unit E (FIGURES l and 2), the cam 45 momentarily operates thesecond, normally closed, micro-switch M of said series to open the linethrough the same, and thereby deenergizes and opens the first relay Rfor said next succeeding test, switch M being held closed by the samecam until switch M has been fully opened by cam 46.

The form it) with tested article A thereon is conveyed into contact withsaid upper reach of moving belt 20, thereby to roll article A from theend of the form and eject it toward the mouth 25' of funnel 14.Simultaneously with such ejection of tested article A the cam 46 engagesand closes the normally open third micro-switch M of said series of camsand thereby, through the previously closed contact 47 of the holdingrelay R and lines L and L to close a circuit to the solenoid 42.Energization of the solenoid 42 move the armature 40 thereof andextension arm 39 to pivot arm 33 with shaft 36 (FIG- URE 2), thereby toswing the deflector plate 35 from the full line or good goods positionshown in FIGURE 2 to the bad goods position shown in chain-dotted lines.The ejected article is thus deflected into the forward compartment 32 ofthe funnel and conveyed to the removable bad goods container 48, (seeFIGURE 4). The same (third) switch M may be utilized for operating otherarticle ejecting devices than that shown herein, such as the air-blasttype ejector means shown in prior Gammeter Patent No. 2,221,323.

Immediately upon the defective article being ejected from its form asdescribed, the cam 46 will engage the fourth (normally closed)micro-switch M to open the same and thereby deenergize the coil ofholding relay R to open contact 47 thereof, ready for the next or anysucceeding form containing goods which has been manifested as being badby the testing unit T. The weight of the deflector plate and othermovable parts between the same and the elcctromagnet will cause thedeflector to return to said good goods position immediately upondeenergization of the electromagnet 42 in which position the articlesare ejected by belt 20 into the funnel compartment 33 and received in acontainer 49.

As all tested articles A are ejected into the funnel 14, additionaluntested articles .A may be applied to the bare forms it) immediatelyafter they pass the funnel, for testing on the same or a differenttesting unit T.

A bare form passing under the tester T will merely operate the circuitto operate the sorting unit 5 as described above.

In other words, and more briefly stated, the first relay R temporarilymanifests the presence of a defective article on a given form passingthrough the testing unit T and the second relay R holds potentialcurrent in the circuit to the electromagnet 42 ready for energization ofthe electromagnet at a later time, that is, when the third micro-switchis closed substantially simultaneously with ejection of the articletoward funnel 14. The four micro-switches M M M and M are operated by acam 46 associated with a given form 10 containing a tested thin rubberarticle A, in timed sequence with movement of the form conveyor, to setthe relays R and R for the purposes previously described.

Thus, has been provided eflicient and eifective apparatus for testing,stripping, and sorting thin rubber articles, which does not requireseparate take-off and article-receiving units in different locations onthe testing machine for handling the two classes of goods.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, there is shown a form of the invention inwhich the article-ejecting and articlesorting units are substantially asbefore, like parts, therefore, being given like designations unlessotherwise noted. The apparatus, however, includes improved means forassisting the ejection of thin rubber articles of the type havingreduced hollow tips on the ends thereof, which have had a tendency toadhere to the reduced end of similarly shaped forms and thereby tounroll at the end of the takeoff. This unrolling of the articles hasrequired separate operations to reroll the same to flat compact size forpackaging.

Accordingly, at the point when an article A on a form 14) which hasbarely passed over the belt 20 of the ejecting unit E has beensubstantially completely rolled upon itself by said belt, as shown infull lines in FIGURE 4, a nozzle 50 is operated to direct a blast of airaxially behind the rolled edge of the article, and between the reducedtip 51 of the form and the nippled end of the article, as shown. Thisassists ejection of the article axially outwardly of the end of the formand into funnel 14, without unrolling the article. The airblast for thispurpose may be supplied from a suitable source of compressed air (notshown), through a solenoid operated air valve (not shown), either earnactuated by the microswitch M or by a separately cam-operated switch.Without the air-blast from nozzle 50, or equivalent means, the rolledarticles have a tendency to cling to the tips 51 of the forms andthereby miss being ejected into the funnel.

The ejecting and sorting apparatus of FIGURE 4 otherwise operates asdescribed above in connection with FIGURES 1 to 3, the good and badgoods being deposited from outlet ends 52 and 53 of the funnelcompartments 33 and 3 2 into suitable containers 49 and 48.

Other modifications of the invention may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for removing thin rubber articles from forms thereofwherein the articles are of the character described having an open endand provided with a closed opposite end, comprising at least one formcorresponding substantially to the shape and size of the articles, meansfor supporting said form to extend freely, means for continuouslyconveying said forms sidewise to move a longitudinal edge portionthereof along a path, an endless belt having a reach thereof extendingin said path and in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the sidewisemoving form to be engageable by said longitudinal edge portion thereof,means for moving said belt in said longitudinal direction against theedge portion of the sidewise moving form initially to engage the articleadjacent the open end of the same and then toward the closed end to rollthe article upon itself to the free end portion of the form, auxiliaryejection means having an air outlet, and control means connected to asource of pressurized air and coordinated with said movement of the formto supply a blast of pressurized air through said air outlet at thepoint when said article is rolled at said free end portion of the form,said air outlet being presented in direction axially outwardly of saidfree end portion of the form, whereby said blast of air engages betweensaid free end portion of the form and the corresponding end portion ofthe article to remove the rolled article axially outwardly away from theform.

2. Apparatus for removing thin rubber articles from forms thereofwherein the articles are of the character described having an open endand provided with a closed opposite end, comprising at least one formcorresponding substantially to the shape and size of the articles, meansfor supporting said form to extend freely inwardly, means forcontinuously conveying said forms sidewise to move a longitudinal edgeportion thereof along a path, an endless belt having a reach thereofextending in said path and in the direction of a longitudinal axis ofthe sidewise moving form to be engageab le by said longitudinal edgeportion thereof, means for moving said belt in said longitudinaldirection against the edge portion of the sidewise moving form initiallyto engage the article adjacent the open end of the same and then towardthe closed end to roll the article upon itself to the free end portionof the form, auxiliary ejection means including a relatively fixednozzle having a pressure fluid outlet adapted to be presented axiallytoward the free end portion of the form and to be axially inwardlyspaced from the edge of the article when rolled substantially to thesaid free end portion of the form, and control means coordinated withmovement of the sidewise conveyed form for supplying a blast of pressurefluid through said nozzle outlet at the point when said article isrolled at said free end portion of the form, whereby said blast of airengages between said free end pontion of the form and the correspondingend portion of the article to remove the rolled article axiallyoutwardly away from the form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,923,733 Killian Aug. 22, 1933 2,221,711 Kurkjian Nov. 12, 19 402,317,839 Westin Apr. 27, 1943 2,371,818 Gammeter Mar. 20, 19452,609,094 Fry Sept. 2, 1952

